


Ghost Town

by felisnocturna



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 1872, Marvel Secret Wars Battleworlds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ghosts, M/M, Post-Canon, slightly meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28383411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felisnocturna/pseuds/felisnocturna
Summary: The rider has been going for a long time.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13
Collections: 2020 Captain America/Iron Man Holiday Exchange





	Ghost Town

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cap Iron Man Community](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Cap+Iron+Man+Community).



> For the Marvel 1872 community prompt "ghost town".

The rider has been going for a long time. 

He's passed empty landscapes and abandoned cities full of skyscrapers, seen remnants of space ships and flickering portals to other dimensions that aren't safe for anyone to enter. Not that he can remember the last time he's seen another living soul.

Today, he's passing through an old western town, when his horse shies and stumbles, joints clicking and whirring. A pool of blood forms on the street in front of him before disappearing again the next moment. 

_"No!"_ he hears. _"Let me go!"_ He thinks he sees movement out of the corner of his eye, but when he turns his head, there is only an abandoned building with a sign reading "T. Stark Enterprises".

He decides to have a look around and dismounts his horse. Maybe there will be more. Approaching the building, he notices a derelict automaton on the porch, only "... future!" still readable of the lettering on its front. He stops and listens, and hears laughter, bitter and desperate, which quickly turns into hiccuping sobs. 

Wandering around, he collects more scraps. A whiff of alcohol in the saloon and an echoing voice: _"I'm trying to save lives!"_ Sounds of gunfire all over town, drops of blood appearing and disappearing. People yelling, and a chorus of women's voices. The sound of an explosion in the distance. A dark figure scaling a building reading "Fisk's Casino" and the rattle of chains in the alley next to the old Sheriff's office. Inside it, the blink of a star and the drifting sounds of a man singing "Danny Boy" on the street. 

Stepping back out, the rider hears a mechanical voice coming closer: _"...and sleep in your beds, or die in the streets!"_ Feeling a stare on his back, he turns, and finds himself in front of a huge armor, its metal face menacing and a blinding circle of light shining from its chest. Behind his own mask, the rider narrows his eyes. Then the vision disappears and the broken automaton behind him jingles. 

After that, everything is quiet. Even the wind has stopped.

He walks back to his horse, mounts it with a few creaks, and waits one last moment in the middle of the empty street. 

Time to leave. 

Galloping, he passes the border of the town and a withered sign reading "Time...", his green cape billowing behind him.

\--

"Did you hear?" Steve asked, taking off his hat and sitting down at the table for a late dinner. "The young Avengers saw Doom again today."

Tony looked up from his work table and smiled. "Let me guess. Galloping down the main street, billowing cape?"

"Yep," Steve replied, chewing. "Oh, and Kamala also saw him on your porch, said he looked like he was listening for something."

"Huh." Tony's gaze turned far away for a second. "Doom's a Battleworld Spectre, no chance of crossing over," he said. "Reed and I checked; all the connections are scrambled. Who knows what dark remnant he was collecting there."

Steve shot him a knowing look and unconsciously rubbed his chest. "Luckily, you are keeping Timely full of light these days," he said with an affectionate smile. 

Tony rolled his eyes and then got up to drop a kiss on Steve's head. 

"More like: Luckily, we got our world out before everything ended and got remade," he responded, stealing a bite of Steve's dinner. "Well, almost everything," he amended. "Seems like Doom's spectre is still roaming the disappearing ghosts of his lost world. Collecting scraps."

Steve just pulled him down for a proper kiss, reassuring them both through touch and warmth and beating hearts.


End file.
